Manehattan Law

Chase trotted through the station again to his office. The station bustled with the usual activity. It was another day and Chase had almost forgotten about his new 'partner'. As he approached his office, he noticed something slightly different about the door.

Hey, my name looks newly printed on. That's... weird.

He turned the doorknob and stepped inside to a most surprising scene.

What the... my office... it's... clean.

In the corner of the room, dusting a filing cabinet with a feather duster was Sharp Edge.

"What did you..." asked Chase, still dumbfounded by the unexpected change.

"Oh hey 'partner', I didn't hear you come in! I'm just doing what you asked me to," said Sharp Edge, turning round to face the flabbergasted detective. "Care for some coffee?"

A steaming cup of fresh black coffee was delicately laid out on Chase's desk. His nose twitched at the strong aroma of freshly brewed coffee.

"All your paperwork is filed neatly and I took the liberty of cleaning out all the old useless junk you had in the drawers. When I first came in here, I thought I stepped into some ancient museum or something. You really need to get on with the times old colt. The junk you had in here seemed like it came out of an antique shop!"

Okay, this colt's up to something

"Okay," asked Chase, giving Sharp a knowing look. "What do you want?"

"Oh nothing! I think we just got off on the wrong hoof is all. I thought maybe we could start over!"

"When I said 'clean my office', I didn't actually mean it for real, you know."

"Oh, it was no trouble at all. Anyways, if you need me, my desk is right outside the door. Oh, and I got you plant." pointed out Sharp.

"Right..."

"Oh, and I think that maybe we could grab lunch together or something," suggest Sharp, standing outside the office door. "You know, get to know each other a little bit more. I mean, we are 'partners' after all..."

Chase slammed the door shut before he could finish.

"Or maybe not! That's fine too!" shouted out Sharp from outside.

That colt is gonna be a real headache.

Chase hung his coat and hat like usual before carefully laying back on his office chair. The chair felt even more comfortable than usual.

Huh, brand new chair. That colt can't possibly get the funds to refurbish my whole office. The Chief must be in on this too.

Chase stared at the cup of coffee. It's been months since he last drank coffee. He never quite acquired the taste for it. Picking up the cup, he threw its contents into the potted plant that sat right behind him on a small table.

Nothing beats good ol' whis...

Chase was horrified when he opened the drawer. It was empty. His private reserve was gone. Stolen.

Oh, that colt's gonna get it now.

Before Chase could storm out of his office, the phone on his desk rang. Chase picked the phone up almost immediately. It was usually a sign that something was happening that required his particular set of skills.

"Uh... office of Detective Chase Powers. How can I help ya?"

"Heya Chase, this is officer Tarmac. We have a uh... hostage situation down here on the jewelry store between 6th and Westwood. The colt holding up the store says he'll speak only to you."

Dang jewelry store was always getting robbed. It was almost a daily occurrence. Guess it was the owner's fault for setting up shop in such a slummy part of Manehattan.

"Alright, I'll be right there. Just tell him I'm coming."

Chase hung up the phone. Finally, after a day of backbreaking paperwork, he was finally gonna do some real police work. Chase opened the door to his office a crack and peeked out, scanning the room outside.

That dang colt's not out there. Must be taking a nap under his desk or something.

Chase stepped out and quietly closed the door behind him before nonchalantly walking towards the parking lot. Not ten steps out his office, a touch on his shoulder made him nearly jump out of his skin.

"Hey Chase! Where ya going?" asked Sharp.

Um... quick Chase, make an excuse!

"I was... uh... just going out... to get some uh... to get some... groceries! Yeah, that's it! Groceries," stuttered Chase, slowly backing away from the young colt.

"Groceries? But you're on duty silly. Why'd you need groceries for?"

That was the most stupid excuse ever Chase.

"I was uh... well you see... I'm terribly hungry and I thought I'd pop on down to the grocery store and grab myself a snack!"

"Well, can I come?"

"Uh no... that's alright. I'm sure your terribly busy doing... stuff."

"Oh, I can make do. Come on, I'll drive!"

Oh dear Chase, what have you gotten yourself into.

As they both exited the building, they got into one of the police cruisers. Clearly it was a newer model because Chase had never seen it before.

"Woah, this your's?"

"Oh yeah, this baby's mine. It's a prototype and I was selected as the sole tester. It's fast, dangerous and it has a sweet stereo built in," explained Sharp as he flicked the stereo switch on, blaring out loud hip hop music.

"Sweet Celestia, turn that off!"

"What? Can't hear you!" shouted Sharp as he revved the engine and drove out the parking lot in an instant. As Sharp nodded his head, appreciating the loud music while simultaneously avoiding high speed traffic, Chase could hardly believe that he was still alive. Suddenly, the car screeched to a halt in the middle of the road.

"Woah!" pointed Sharp. "Looks like a jewelry store robbery's going on over there!"

The car spun around in place and sped off in the direction of the store before coming to a halt alongside a group of police cars.

"I hope your stomach can wait Chase, we got some police work to get done!"

Oh brother...

They both got out of the car as an officer approached them.

"Chase! Glad you could make... who's this guy?" asked officer Tarmac.

"Well, fine day to you officer. My name is Sharp Edge. I'm Chase's 'partner'."

"Sharp, we went through this already, you're not my partner. Zip. End of story. You're here just to observe."

"Uh yeah, if you don't mind Chase, we have a hostage situation here and I'd really like to get back to lunch," interrupted the officer.

"Don't sweat it Chase, I got this all worked out. I passed my negotiating test."

"Oh no, don't you..."

Before Chase could stop the overeager rookie cop, Sharp had already grabbed a voice amplifier from one of the police cars.

"Hell... Hello? Is this thing on?" blared out Sharp's voice. "Okay uh... hi there mister criminal sir! How are you? I hope you're doing fine. My name is Sharp Edge. What's your name?"

"Screw you!" shouted a voice from inside the store.

"Well... that's a very nice name. Now listen Screw, what you're doing is wrong and I want you to let the hostage go and let us come in and arrest you."

Chase could hear the other officers on the scene shake their heads in embarrassment.

"Sharp, give me that!" interrupted Chase as he grabbed the voice amplifier from Sharp's hooves. "This is Detective Chase Powers, you wanted to speak to me?"

There was a short silence before the door to the jewelry store opened and out stepped a dirty unshaven earth pony with a gun held to a frightened and distraught mare.

"Detective Chase... remember me?" asked the hostage taker.

Well well well, if it isn't the old colt himself.

"Don Copacello! Haven't seen you in a long time! What are you doing holdin' up jewelry stores? I thought you were better than this!"

"Chase, I need to have a private word with you. You're the only person I trust in this whole town anymore." admitted the colt, releasing the mare and putting the gun on the floor.

Huh, what's going on here?

Don Copacello walked towards the detective, hooves outstretched. As Chase put the hoofcuffs on the criminal mastermind, the Don smirked.

Must be the last thing he thought he'd ever do. Something weird is going on here.